Personal protection system comprising a helmet, a hood and assembly for aligning the hood with the helmet

A positioning and supporting system for assisting a single user in self-gowning as the user maintains sterility, said positioning and supporting system comprising: a helmet assembly (12) adapted to be mounted on a head of the user and including a fan module (46) for distributing air about the head of the user, said helmet assembly (12) including a base section (32) and a facial section (40) extending from said base section (32) to define a facial opening; a hood (92) for covering said base section (32) of said helmet assembly (12); a face shield (96) mounted to said hood (92) to cover said facial opening thereby permitting the user to view through said hood (92), said face shield (96) including a mounting mechanism (108) to support said face shield (96) on said helmet assembly (12); and said helmet assembly (12) including a mounting device (112) interlocking with said mounting mechanism (108) on said face shield (96) to automatically align said face shield (96) over said facial opening and to support said hood (92) and said face shield (96) thereby assisting the single user in self-gowning while maintaining a relative position between said face shield (96) and said helmet assembly (12) as the user maintains sterility.